This invention relates to a fragile article handling and orientating apparatus, and more particularly, to such an apparatus having a magnetic pick-up means for dealing with magnetic articles of a fragile nature. Still more particularly the invention relates to an apparatus for handling and orienting cathodes for a cathode ray tube by picking them up from a random, disoriented supply, orienting the cathode in a desired position, and delivering the cathode to a remote location.
The cathodes for cathode ray tubes are extremely fragile structures and generally comprise a tubular sleeve of a very thin walled, passive, non-magnetic nickel material on the order of 0.002 inch thick. This cathode sleeve is topped by a substantially cup-shaped top cap, which is formed from an active nickel, which is magnetic. In some instances, attachment of the top cap to the sleeve is made by a plurality of limited area contacts. These limited area contacts can be formed by cut-out portions of the cathode sleeve. In the manufacture of electron tubes employing such cathodes, it is necessary to occasionally handle the cathodes for various purposes. At least one time requiring handling is for the loading of the cathodes into trays so that a potentially emissive material can be applied to the outer most surface of the top cap. At the present time this operation is performed entirely by a manual labor, with an operator grabbing a single individual cathode with a pair of tweezers and manually inserting this cathode into a suitable tray, whereby the potentially emissive material can be applied. As noted above, the fragile nature of the cathode makes such handling a delicate and time consuming operation. The thinness of the wall construction makes it entirely possible to crush the cathode between the fingers or between the tweezers. Accordingly, it would be a decided advance in the art if a suitable automatic method of handling these cathodes could be provided.